Evaluating the Fitness for Use of Citizen Science Data for Wildlife Monitoring

Contributory citizen science programs focused on ecological monitoring can produce fine-grained and expansive data sets across spatial and temporal scales. With this data collection potential, citizen scientists can significantly impact the ability to monitor ecological patterns. However, scientists...

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Autores principales:	Heather A. Fischer, Leah R. Gerber, Elizabeth A. Wentz
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	volunteered geographic information data fitness data quality ecological monitoring citizen science Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/ba052f48bf75431c89d1ade5b561ad3c
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:ba052f48bf75431c89d1ade5b561ad3c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:ba052f48bf75431c89d1ade5b561ad3c2021-11-16T07:22:25ZEvaluating the Fitness for Use of Citizen Science Data for Wildlife Monitoring2296-701X10.3389/fevo.2021.620850https://doaj.org/article/ba052f48bf75431c89d1ade5b561ad3c2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.620850/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2296-701XContributory citizen science programs focused on ecological monitoring can produce fine-grained and expansive data sets across spatial and temporal scales. With this data collection potential, citizen scientists can significantly impact the ability to monitor ecological patterns. However, scientists still harbor skepticism about using citizen science data in their work, generally due to doubts about data quality. Numerous peer-reviewed articles have addressed data quality in citizen science. Yet, many of these methods are not useable by third-party scientists (scientists who are not directly involved in the citizen science program). In addition, these methods generally capture internal data quality rather than a dataset’s potential to be used for a specific purpose. Assessing data fitness for use represents a promising approach to evaluating data accuracy and quality for different applications and contexts. In this article, we employ a Spatial, Temporal, Aptness, and Application (STAAq) assessment approach to assess data fitness for use of citizen science datasets. We tested the STAAq assessment approach through a case study examining the distribution of caribou in Denali National Park and Preserve. Three different datasets were used in the test, Map of Life data (a global scale citizen science mobile application for recording species observations), Ride Observe and Record data (a program sponsored by the park staff where incentivized volunteers observe species in the park), and conventionally collected radio collar data. The STAAq assessment showed that the Map of Life and Ride Observe and Record program data are fit for monitoring caribou distribution in the park. This data fitness for use approach is a promising way to assess the external quality of a dataset and its fitness to address particular research or monitoring questions. This type of assessment may help citizen science skeptics see the value and potential of citizen science collected data and encourage the use of citizen science data by more scientists.Heather A. FischerLeah R. GerberElizabeth A. WentzFrontiers Media S.A.articlevolunteered geographic informationdata fitnessdata qualityecological monitoringcitizen scienceEvolutionQH359-425EcologyQH540-549.5ENFrontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	volunteered geographic information data fitness data quality ecological monitoring citizen science Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	volunteered geographic information data fitness data quality ecological monitoring citizen science Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 Heather A. Fischer Leah R. Gerber Elizabeth A. Wentz Evaluating the Fitness for Use of Citizen Science Data for Wildlife Monitoring
description	Contributory citizen science programs focused on ecological monitoring can produce fine-grained and expansive data sets across spatial and temporal scales. With this data collection potential, citizen scientists can significantly impact the ability to monitor ecological patterns. However, scientists still harbor skepticism about using citizen science data in their work, generally due to doubts about data quality. Numerous peer-reviewed articles have addressed data quality in citizen science. Yet, many of these methods are not useable by third-party scientists (scientists who are not directly involved in the citizen science program). In addition, these methods generally capture internal data quality rather than a dataset’s potential to be used for a specific purpose. Assessing data fitness for use represents a promising approach to evaluating data accuracy and quality for different applications and contexts. In this article, we employ a Spatial, Temporal, Aptness, and Application (STAAq) assessment approach to assess data fitness for use of citizen science datasets. We tested the STAAq assessment approach through a case study examining the distribution of caribou in Denali National Park and Preserve. Three different datasets were used in the test, Map of Life data (a global scale citizen science mobile application for recording species observations), Ride Observe and Record data (a program sponsored by the park staff where incentivized volunteers observe species in the park), and conventionally collected radio collar data. The STAAq assessment showed that the Map of Life and Ride Observe and Record program data are fit for monitoring caribou distribution in the park. This data fitness for use approach is a promising way to assess the external quality of a dataset and its fitness to address particular research or monitoring questions. This type of assessment may help citizen science skeptics see the value and potential of citizen science collected data and encourage the use of citizen science data by more scientists.
format	article
author	Heather A. Fischer Leah R. Gerber Elizabeth A. Wentz
author_facet	Heather A. Fischer Leah R. Gerber Elizabeth A. Wentz
author_sort	Heather A. Fischer
title	Evaluating the Fitness for Use of Citizen Science Data for Wildlife Monitoring
title_short	Evaluating the Fitness for Use of Citizen Science Data for Wildlife Monitoring
title_full	Evaluating the Fitness for Use of Citizen Science Data for Wildlife Monitoring
title_fullStr	Evaluating the Fitness for Use of Citizen Science Data for Wildlife Monitoring
title_full_unstemmed	Evaluating the Fitness for Use of Citizen Science Data for Wildlife Monitoring
title_sort	evaluating the fitness for use of citizen science data for wildlife monitoring
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/ba052f48bf75431c89d1ade5b561ad3c
work_keys_str_mv	AT heatherafischer evaluatingthefitnessforuseofcitizensciencedataforwildlifemonitoring AT leahrgerber evaluatingthefitnessforuseofcitizensciencedataforwildlifemonitoring AT elizabethawentz evaluatingthefitnessforuseofcitizensciencedataforwildlifemonitoring
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Evaluating the Fitness for Use of Citizen Science Data for Wildlife Monitoring

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